Dubai Airport Passenger Traffic Slips 2.9% In July On Runway Work

Passenger traffic through Dubai’s main airport dropped 2.9 per cent from a year earlier to 5.16 million people in July, as construction work temporarily reduced its capacity, operator Dubai Airports said on Sunday.

Dubai International, one of the world’s busiest airports, cut back flights by about 26 per cent for a period of 80 days from May 1 as both its runways were in turn refurbished and upgraded. Normal service resumed on July 21.

Passenger numbers rose 4.9 per cent to 39.83 million people in the first seven months of the year.

Cargo volume in July dropped 10.7 per cent to 184,720 tonnes, while in the first seven months, volume totalled 1.37 million tonnes, down 3.1 per cent. All dedicated freighter services moved permanently to Al Maktoum International, Dubai’s other major airport, by May 1.